Chirping clutch

[zmepro]

Today I noticed that my clutch chirps, now keep in mind, this is after the car is warmed up.

Anyways, it happens when I am in gear and am decelerating (from like 2nd gear) if I don't let up on the gas perfectly smoothly, every little jolt or bump that the car has the clutch (I think) make a little squeek or chirp sound (remember, the clutch is fully engaged at this point, and the car is in gear)

It also seems to happen whenever I shift roughly or poorly, it seems to have something to do with how the gas and clutch are at that point in time. The clutch isn't slipping at all, and nothing else seems to be effected... no chatter or any of that stuff...

Any ideas? (attn)

 

[Jeph]

what kind of clutch? stock? or aftermarket?

 

[zmepro]

stock, all i have is a shortshifter, bushings and redline tranny fluid

 

[03MSP]

Throwout bearing maybe??

 

[zmepro]

whats a throwout bearing?

 

[zoomzoom02]

I donno man, i would take it in, but take off the short shifter, they will not warranty it fo' shizzle.

 

[BadApple]

my throw out bearing is bad to...mazda wants $500 just to take the tranny of to look. Thats some BS.....oh and its NOT COVERED under warranty!!

 

[zmepro]

not coverd?
what do i do???

 

[zmepro]

why isn't it covered under warrenty?

 

[BadApple]

The only way it would be covered is if the Dealership found a defect in the part (Very unlikely!) otherwise you will have to put up the money (Service charge + part) best thing i suggest is dont worry about it! if you dont dog the s*** out of it or anything it will last you a while longer...but start talking to tranny shop to see what their prices are...cause dealership will kick your butt with their fees!

 

[johnsharpe]

whats a throwout bearing?

The throwout bearing is the bearing that slides along the input shaft and pushes on the fingers to disengage the clutch. See this article for more details:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/clutch.htm (I love this site!!)

From your description, it could be the bearing if it squeaks with the motion of the pedal, or it could be the fork also.

Tough to say...but I'd get a mechanic to ride around with you and demo it to him/her. They'll be able to give a more accurate assessment, IMO.

 

[cbcbd]

Dude, I think I have the same thing. I posted about it yesterday but got no replies.

I don't think it's our throw out bearing.

Just engaging and disengaging the clutch pedal while in neutral makes no noise whatsoever - if this is the same thing you're getting then it's not our throwout bearings.

This noise only happens when the car is in gear, it does not come from the suspension or the body alone, if the car is being jerked around in neutral it will not make a sound - zmepro, sound familiar?

This chirping/squeaking happens in all gears, but you can really hear it in 1st and 2nd gears because they are torquey and jerk the car around. When you are smoothly accelerating in these gears you do not hear the sound - same as you?

Anyway, I'm looking for an answer too, so I'm hoping someone will enlighten us. This weekend I'm going to try to jack up the front of the car and listen to it while someone accelerates and jerks the engine/transaxle around a bit-hopefully I'll be able to reproduce it without the load of the car on top of the drive wheels.

 

[BadApple]

mine is only happening when the car is in nuetral. i will hear chirping comming from the left side of the car and when i put my foot on the clutch it goes away. then if i let off ...there it is again. i have no clue what it is but a machanic told me that it was most likely the throw out. it has been doing it for about a year now..since i have had my car since late 2001 early 2002!

Dude, I think I have the same thing. I posted about it yesterday but got no replies.

I don't think it's our throw out bearing.

Just engaging and disengaging the clutch pedal while in neutral makes no noise whatsoever - if this is the same thing you're getting then it's not our throwout bearings.

This noise only happens when the car is in gear, it does not come from the suspension or the body alone, if the car is being jerked around in neutral it will not make a sound - zmepro, sound familiar?

This chirping/squeaking happens in all gears, but you can really hear it in 1st and 2nd gears because they are torquey and jerk the car around. When you are smoothly accelerating in these gears you do not hear the sound - same as you?

Anyway, I'm looking for an answer too, so I'm hoping someone will enlighten us. This weekend I'm going to try to jack up the front of the car and listen to it while someone accelerates and jerks the engine/transaxle around a bit-hopefully I'll be able to reproduce it without the load of the car on top of the drive wheels.



zmepro - tip, after you bump your thread a gazilion times and people post, please go back and delete all the gazillion bump posts in order to unclutter the thread.

 

[zmepro]

mine is like yours cbcbd, it only really makes noise mid engagment and a rough ride combined (jerkyness from bad shifting)
sigh, very annoying and i can't help but think something is way wrong

 

[cbcbd]

mine is like yours cbcbd, it only really makes noise mid engagment and a rough ride combined (jerkyness from bad shifting)
sigh, very annoying and i can't help but think something is way wrong

Yeah, I know, I'm dreading finding out that this thing is a big problem. This weekend I'm going to try to just do some listening to my car. I'm hoping it's just some bolt/connection/clamp/whatever/ making this noise, but I don't think that's going to be the case. If it's not as simple as I thought I'm just going to take it to the mechanic to get it checked, I'm passed my warranty anyway, so I'll just have to suck it up.

I did a search and the member lilitaly seemed to have the same problem about a year ago with his msp. The thread never really finished and he never came back to say what the problem was. I'm going to try to shoot him an email.

 

[cbcbd]

Ok, just jacked up the warmed up car and had my dad engage and disengage the clutch many times. The noise was reproduced, no problem. I got under the car and gave it a real close listen.

It doesn't sound like it's coming from inside the transmission or the clutch. It actually sounds like all that noise is coming from the downpipe, which sits right below the clutch. I'm going to lube everything up in that area and re-tighten it and then we'll see if that helps.

later

 

[cbcbd]

Ok, good news, it's NOT the clutch or the transmission.

There are two bolts that hold the downpipe to the second CAT in the exhaust line, between the bolt and one of the nuts there is a spring - the spring is squeaky!!

Since there is a bracket that connects the downpipe directly to the side of the clutch, whatever the engine/transmission does the downpipe will do the same. So whenever you disengaged the clutch it would move and jerk the downpipe around, making that stupid spring squeak.

I haven't tried it out yet, but I took the springs and bolts out and cleaned them up with degreaser and brake cleaner and then put them back up lubed up in oil. when tightening it it still squeaked a little, so I don't know if it worked.

Well, anyway, we'll see, but now at least we know what it is and it's not serious.

 

[zmepro]

wow, i will check that out in autoshop soon, can you post a pic of what you are talking about?

 

[cbcbd]

Update:
I think it did work. I drove around a lot today and when I stopped and checked (engaging and disengaging clutch) I couldn't reproduce the noise! I'm going to make sure tomorrow, but hopefully this will last at least for a little while.
I'll try to take a pic tomorrow after work, if not then I'll draw you a diagram

 

[zmepro]

sweet~!